CRH could face dump bill

CRH could face a multi-million euro clean-up bill and severe damage to its reputation if it transpires the company has responsibility for a massive illegal dump on its lands.

Thousands of tonnes of material, some in pits as deep as 30ft was dumped illegally on a 500 acre site at Blessington, County Wicklow, owned by CRH.

The company has confirmed large quantities of domestic and commercial waste have been discovered on part of its property. They stress the material was placed on site without permission.

Meanwhile, Wicklow County Council has used an aircraft to provide thermal images of the area in order to pinpoint all the illegal landfills on the site which is used for legitimate quarrying by CRH.

Commenting on media reports that CRH lands have been used for illegal dumping, analyst John Mattimoe of Merrion stockbrokers said: "If these reports are correct the key for CRH is whether it also operated the land or if the operation or use of the land was licensed to a third party. If a third party was operating the land in question and was facilitating the illegal dumping we assume that the third party and whoever dumped the waste would bear most of the penalties arising from the issue.

" However, if it transpires that a CRH subsidiary operated the land when the dumping occurred the company could be liable to fines and rectification costs. Furthermore, such a development would be another dent to CRH's premium management reputation following the surprise announcement of a small number of asbestos claims against one of its US operations."